Jeremiah 36:11-19

3. The reaction of the Princes (Jeremiah 36:11-19)

TRANSLATION

(11) When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD as they were read from the book, (12) he went down to the house of the king, to the chamber of the scribe. And, behold, all the princes were sitting thereElishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. (13) And Micaiah declared to them the words which he had heard Baruch reading from the book in the presence of the people. (14) Then all the princes sent unto Baruch Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, saying, The scroll from which you read in the presence of the peopletake it in your hand and come. And Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hands and went unto them. (15) And they said unto him, Sit please, and read in our presence. And Baruch read it in their presence. (16) And it came to pass when they heard all the words, they looked in fear one to another, and they said unto Baruch, We must surely declare all these things to the king. (17) And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us please how you wrote all these things from his mouth. (18) And Baruch said unto them, He personally dictated unto me all these words while I wrote in the book with ink. (19) And the princes said unto Baruch, Go and hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and let no man know your whereabouts.

COMMENTS

One person who heard Baruch read the scroll that day was particularly touched. His name was Michaiah and he was the son of Gemariah whose office Baruch was wing to proclaim the word. He was anxious to report to his father what had transpired in the Temple that day. It so happened that Gemariah was engaged at that moment in a council of the princes in the office of Elishama. Michaiah declared to the princes the message which Baruch had been reading to the people in the Temple court (Jeremiah 36:13). The princes were so impressed that they dispatched Jehudi[314] to summon Baruch to appear before them with the scroll (Jeremiah 36:14). Since Baruch belonged to a family of distinction (see on Jeremiah 36:4) the princes received him respectfully and cordially. In the light of Jeremiah 36:19; Jeremiah 36:25 it would appear that these particular princes were favorably disposed towards Baruch and his master.

[314] The name of his ancestor leads one to suspect that Jehudi was of Cushite or Ethiopian descent.

When the princes heard the words of the scroll they looked at each other and trembled (Jeremiah 36:16). Why were they afraid? Had the scroll made them aware of their own personal guilt? Did the bold, prophetic announcement of imminent destruction strike terror in their hearts? Were they afraid of the reaction of the king? Perhaps all of these factors mingled together to make these princes afraid. At any rate they were convinced that it was their responsibility as first officers of the realm to report the incident to the king (Jeremiah 36:16). Before doing so however they inquired more precisely about the scroll as to how it came into being and who was responsible for it (Jeremiah 36:17). Baruch honestly answered the question: Jeremiah clearly and distinctly pronounced with his mouth while I was writing them with ink upon the scroll. Thus Baruch takes no credit (or blame as the case might be) for the scroll. He attributes all these words to his master. Baruch had neither added to nor taken away from the words of the prophet. Anticipating the reaction of the king to the scroll the friendly princes urged Baruch and Jeremiah to immediately hide themselves and to reveal to no one their whereabouts (Jeremiah 36:19).